ع
Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes completed the full count by mid-July and certified Keiko Fujimori as the winner of the June 7 runoff, according to Reuters reporting on the process. The conservative candidate secured 50.135 percent against leftist congressman Roberto Sánchez’s 49.865 percent, with the final margin falling under 50,000 votes after initial tallies seesawed between the pair. Fujimori, speaking from a Lima hotel as early results emerged, called on supporters to remain calm and noted that long days lay ahead before the definitive outcome, Reuters reported at the time.
This marks Fujimori’s first presidential victory after three prior unsuccessful campaigns in 2011, 2016 and 2021, the BBC detailed in its coverage of her career. She is due to be sworn in on July 28 as the ninth president in a decade, a period of chronic instability during which eight leaders have taken office since 2016. Britannica records show that sequence began with Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s resignation in 2018 and continued through impeachments, brief interim tenures such as Manuel Merino’s five days in 2020 and the removal of Pedro Castillo in 2022.
Fujimori centered her platform on a crackdown on organized crime, the promotion of private investment and the expulsion of undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. She accepted the result with responsibility, humility and a deep sense of duty, according to statements carried by multiple outlets including the BBC. The 51-year-old candidate is the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, the former president convicted of crimes against humanity and corruption who spent 16 years in prison before his death.
Sánchez alleged irregularities, particularly in votes cast from abroad, and appealed for certain ballots to be nullified even as the official count concluded, Reuters accounts from the period indicated. The leftist candidate had gained ground in partial tallies and at one point took a slim lead, prompting market concerns over his policy proposals that resonated with informal miners and rural voters. Sánchez called on supporters in remote areas to participate fully during the original voting, according to dispatches from the campaign trail.
The outcome continues a rightward shift across Latin America, with Fujimori positioned to work alongside figures such as Colombia’s Abelardo de la Espriella, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and U.S. President Donald Trump, a Reuters regional overview found. Peruvian stocks fell during the count when polls indicated Sánchez closing the gap, reflecting investor unease over potential policy changes favoring looser regulation in sectors such as small-scale gold mining. The incoming administration will confront a fragmented Congress where short-lived presidencies have become the norm.
Peru has experienced ten presidents in the past ten years by several tallies, a pattern a Duke University journal article attributed to systemic confrontation between the executive and legislature over corruption and governance failures. That turnover has included figures such as Martín Vizcarra, Francisco Sagasti, Dina Boluarte, José Jerí and José María Balcázar, each facing scandals or mass protests that curtailed their time in office. Fujimori’s narrow mandate arrives as the country seeks greater continuity after years of repeated leadership changes.
